Field of the Invention
Detergent formulations, especially detergent formulations for automatic dishwashing, have to meet various requirements. When being used in automatic dishwashing, such detergent formulations need to enable a complete cleaning of china, polymer, metal, clay, and glassware and to remove all sorts of soil, like fat, proteins, starch, dyes, and more. The soils need to be dispersed in water during the cleaning and the water removal process, and the various soils should not deposit in the dishwashing machine in case of automatic dishwashing. Finally, during the drying process, the cleaned good should exhibit a good drying behavior, without spotting.
It has been found that in many cases fatty residues are being accumulated in the fat filter or sieves of automatic dishwashing machines. Such residues usually contain surfactant and fat which has been removed from the dishware, or degradation products from soil. The deposition of residues is disadvantageous because such filters or sieves need cleaning when filled with surfactant and fat. Furthermore, such fatty residues may become smelly in case the machine is not in use for some time, and they may even become a hygiene hazard.
Mixed hydroxy ethers are particularly efficient non-ionic surfactants, especially when combined with certain polymers, see, e. g., WO 2008/095563. However, especially the use of mixed hydroxy ethers in formulations disclosed in WO 2008/095563 in automatic dishwashers can lead to rather high amounts of surfactant and fat residues in the filters or sieves.
It was therefore an objective of the present invention to provide a method for cleaning dishware soiled with fat without having to cope with significant residues of surfactant and fat in the filters or sieves of the dishwashing machine but not loss on quality of the dishwashing process. Furthermore, it was an objective to provide formulations useful for cleaning dishware soiled with fat without having to cope with significant residues of surfactant and fat in the filters or sieves of the dishwashing machine but not loss on quality of the dishwashing process. Furthermore, it was an objective to provide a method for making such formulations.
Accordingly, the processes and formulations defined in the outset have been found. Firstly, the process defined in the outset, hereinafter also referred to as inventive process, will be defined in more detail.